Southern Sudan in Transition?The African-Arab Conflict in the Sudan by Dunstan M. WaiReview by: Richard P. StevensAfrica Today, Vol. 28, No. 2, The Sudan: 25 Years of Independence (2nd Qtr., 1981), pp. 123-124Published by: Indiana University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4186009 .

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Southern Sudan in transition? Richard P. Stevens

Dunstan M. Wai, THE AFRICAN-ARAB CONFLICT IN THE SUDAN (New York and London: Africana Publishing Co., 1981) pp. xxvi, 234; $35.50 hard- cover.

The resolution in 1972 of the civil war which raged in the Sudan for seven- teen years resulted "in a new era of relations between its two historically an- tagonistic peoples," according to Dunstan M. Wai in this recently published work. While this is the theme of the penultimate chapter, the final chapter seeks to establish that the regional autonomy achieved in the Addis Ababa accords is essentially transitional in character, "a point of departure upon which viable consensual relationships can be built."

Essentially The African-Arab Conflict in the Sudan is a rehash of the Southern Sudanese secessionist movement. Aside from an informative chapter on the role of the World Council of Churches in bringing about the peace agree- ment, the book presents no new information. On the contrary, the author's ef- forts to clothe his historical recapitulation in social science jargon scarcely adds to our understanding of the new political system which, Wai argues, must be pursued, Given the continued absence of the author from the Sudan it is perhaps inevitable that the book lacks those insights which might otherwise be expected from an outstanding southern Sudanese academician. Despite nearly a decade of peace, Wai is reluctant to admit the existence of "Sudanese" in- dependently of ethnocentric labels - "African" or "Arab." His primary con- cern is to reaffirm as a unilateral right, "the right to self-determination of a sizeable group of people in a geographically concentrated area within a sovereign state ... ."

Notwithstanding the fact that Wai enables the reader to understand the at- titudes and grievances of a portion of the Southern elite, in the final analysis the book is a disappointment. The absolute dichotomy reflected not only in the title but reiterated throughout the book falsifies the total Sudanese reality. Indeed, the assertion that northerners are "Arabs" because they so identify themselves fails to take account of numerous objective and subjective factors. In the con- text of Wai's exposition the very existence of such Sudanese as Abel Alier and Francis Deng is almost improbable. While generous in his praise of the Vice- President's role as a spokesman of the Khartoum government in the peace pro- cess, Wai does not give adequate attention to those southerners who rejected statehood for the South. If it is true that northern Sudanese can only be iden- tified as "Arabs," by what objective and subjective criteria can southerners be identified by any label except tribe? Wai alludes to the presence of tribal animosities hindering a unified Southern stand until the emergence of General Lagu as the dominant regional personality in the secession movement but he

Richard P. Stevens is Professor of Political Science at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. and an Africa Today editorial consultant. He has taught in the Sudan.

2nd Quarter, 1981 123

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does not deal with tribalism in terms of the "right to self-determination of all peoples." In looking towards the future it surely must be considered that the permanent residence of a large number of southerners in the north is an objec- tive element in the Sudanese polity. This migration is accounted for not only by economic pressures. It reflects personal goals of upward mobility and social satisfaction which can only be achieved in the larger Sudanese political frame- work.

The author's assertion that tensions flowing from differences of culture must be accommodated cannot be disputed. At the same time, however, given the total African reality, it is obvious that the "primordial" loyalties which so concern Wai must also be transformed in the modernization process. As Wai plaintively notes, it was only Dr. Hastings Banda of Malawi, of all African leaders, who came to the vocal support of the secession movement. But it is dif- ficult to make an African legitimizer out of the champion of African diplomatic ties with South Africa and Israel and one who has ruthlessly crushed political and religious dissenters at home. That Dr. Banda should so obligingly cate- gorize the Sudanese conflict as an Arab war of extermination against Africans speaks more of the Malawian leader's surrogate role than of his perception of Sudanese affairs.

In speculating upon future internal political arrangements in the Sudan which might assure a greater degree of popular participation, it might be worthwhile to consider more precisely the advantages which diversity offers all Sudanese. Thus, the resistance of many Sudanese Muslims to the ambitions of those who would sacrifice personal liberties in the name of an Islamic state is strongly reinforced by the presence of the South in a united Sudan. The Republican Brothers, a uniquely Sudanese expression, is a vibrant testimony to the uniqueness of the Sudan in the Muslim world. At the same time, the Southern Region, as part of the larger Sudan, is undoubtedly saved from the fate which has befallen neighboring Uganda, a country with many parallels to the southern mosaic. One must hope that Sudanese academicians of every background will lend their talents to overcoming the "primordial" concerns so abundantly reflected in this volume.

Recalling the past to reform the present Thomas J. Loughrey

Francis Mading Deng, AFRICANS OF TWO WORLDS: The Dinka in Afro-Arab Sudan. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1978) xx-238 pp., hardcover $15.00.

Dr. Deng's book, Africans of Two Worlds: The Dinka in Afro-Arab Sudan, essentially deals with how his own ethnic group, the Dinka, perceive the pro- gress made by the Sudan in integrating the Arabic north and the African south into a modern, unified nation-state. Through the eyes of the Dinka, who are the largest ethnic group of Sudan's highly diversified southern population, Dr. Deng traces the historical development of the south's relationship with the north.

Thomas J. Loughrey taught in Tanzania from 1976 to 1978, and presently teaches at Regis High School in Denver, Colorado and is a consultant on African affairs to the Center for Teaching International Relations, University of Denver.

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